Keyword

Problem-Based Learning; Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy; Women’s University Students; Information Technology Related Curriculum

Abstract

The unemployment of university students has been emerging as a significant social issue in South Korea, making it more necessary for students to have the attitude and confidence needed to explore their future options. This study examines whether women’s university students are actively committed to making decisions and having confidence in their career choices when applying Problem-Based Learning (PBL) to the Information Technology Curriculum.  For the design of this study, two women’s universities were selected: group A consisted of ‘A University’ students given hybrid-style PBL and group B consisted of ‘B University’ students given traditional lectures and practices. A Nonequivalent Control Group Pretest-Posttest Design was used to analyze the experimental group and the control group with pretest questionnaires at the beginning of a semester and posttest questionnaires at the end of the semester.

The study results confirmed that PBL improves the Career Decision Making Self-Efficacy of women’s university students in giving them confidence in their ability to collect career information, awareness of career objectives, belief in planning and doing, and self-assessment for choosing suitable careers for themselves. This study suggests that more problem-based learning curricula need to apply PBL to future IT-related curricula to help students make their own career decisions.


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